Nintendo Introduces “Virtual Game Cards” for Sharing Digital Titles Between Switch Systems
Posted on March 27 2025 by Leslie Jacobson
If you’ve ever wished that transferring digital games between Switch systems was as easy as transferring physical game cards, Nintendo announced a solution today via the Nintendo Direct.
In the near future, “Virtual Game Cards” will be downloaded when you purchase a digital game. If you have a second Nintendo Switch tied to your Nintendo Account, you can “eject” a Virtual Game Card and play it on the second system. The Virtual Game Cards can be swapped between the two systems as well. Local communication with the second Switch system is required, but only the first time.
This cool new feature also means that you’ll be able to lend Virtual Game Cards to members of your Nintendo Switch Online Family Group. You simply select the game you want to lend and send it to the family member via local wireless. You can only lend one game at a time per family member, and after 14 days, the games come back to your account automatically.
The Virtual Game Cards will be added to Nintendo Switch via a system update in late April. The Virtual Game Cards will also work with the Nintendo Switch 2 at launch.
What do you think? Does this help with digital-only games and transferring between systems? Would you lend a game or play a borrowed digital game like this? Let us know in the comments!
Source: Nintendo Direct
Leslie is a mom, a cosplayer, an educator, and a fervent fan of The Legend of Zelda series. She lives in an area of the United States that reminds her of the Akkala region in the fall and Hebra the other 11 months of the year. She owns The Legend of Zelda t-shirts older than most of her students.
